Soy whaaaat!

Vic Books is feeling sheepish after it emerged its soy milk was not vegan. Staff were not aware of the issue until a student told them.

Vitasoy Calci-Plus was the culprit. It contains Vitamin D which has been derived from lanolin found in sheep’s wool.

Vic Books resolved the issue and are now serving legitimate vegan soy milk, Vitasoy Original, to vegans who ask for it.

Vitasoy Calci-Plus will still be served to non-vegan customers, as it contains extra calcium which is helpful to lactose intolerant customers.

A staff member expected that most vegans would have enquired about the milk anyway before they ordered it, as “vegans are pretty cutthroat.”

Adam Leggett, a vegan, discovered that the milk was not soy. “I just noticed it being used while I was waiting on a coffee one morning.”

He and his partner had previously assumed their coffees were vegan, but they enquired about the milk and discovered their mistake.

Leggett let other vegans know about the issue through the university club Vegetarians and Vegans at Vic.

“It wasn’t a big enough issue as to cause a huge uproar, but it’s something I try to avoid in order to keep up a consistency with my vegan diet.”

Leggett said “It didn’t annoy me that Vic Books were using it, they weren’t to know.”

However, he was disappointed that Vitasoy “need to use animal products for Vitamin D, seeing as we can produce it ourselves by spending a few minutes in the sun.”

It also emerged that Vic Books does not use free-range bacon, although a staff member told Salient the rest of its produce are free-range. The news sparked a debate on the VegVuw Facebook group about animal rights versus animal welfare, and whether free-range is good or evil because it legitimises animal consumption.

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The student magazine of Victoria University of Wellington. Salient is available on campus free each Monday during term. Funded in part by Victoria University of Wellington students, through the Student Services Levy.